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“Isn’t that near San Diego?” I ask, looking at my mom.
She waves me off. “We’ll take the jet down and make a day of it.”
I’m not gonna lie and say it’s not nice to have money at your disposal, and my parents have always had money, that’s for sure. But it wasn’t until I was a teenager that they joined the one-percent club. I don’t want Theo to grow up thinking it’s normal to jump on a private plane for a day trip.
“Mom…”
She holds up both hands. “What? I’m not allowed to spoil my only grandchild?”
She’s saved from my answer when the doorbell rings and Theo runs out of the room.
“We should get going anyway,” my dad says.
My mom looks between us. “You two spoke?”
“All’s good,” Dad says.
She gives me a hug. “Promise we won’t cramp your style.”
I laugh and pull away. “I’m more worried about the opposite really.”
She swats me on the arm and gives me a wink.
Growing up with a mom like her required being confident I could kick every kid’s butt at my school. When your mother owns a sex toy company, has tatted up her arms, and gives zero fucks what anyone else thinks, it’s hard walking in on day one of school or having her as a trip chaperone. Although everyone got to know her and loved her because she was awesome, it was hard during those adolescent years when all I wanted to do was blend in with everyone.
Then there’s the whole thing that no subject is taboo or off the table. Picture your mom giving you sex tips after she finds you having sex with a girl. And I’m not talking the usual “wear a condom” stuff either. More like an introduction to where to find the G-spot and how to ease a woman into anal sex so you make her quiver.
We follow Theo to the front door where he’s once again messing with the lock. The exact reason I installed a latch on top that only I can reach. I lean in over him, unlock the door, and swing it open.
“Mommy!” He jumps into Hannah.
She fumbles with her bag but grabs him at the last minute, enveloping him in a hug. She smiles at me over his shoulder, then notices my parents standing behind me when she straightens and puts Theo on her hip. “Hi, Lennon, hi, Jasper.”
“Hey, Hannah. We were just leaving.” My dad slides around the side of me.
My parents give her a quick hug as they step onto the porch.
Amazing how we can be so civil. We’re all on good terms. There was never any drama between Hannah and me when things didn’t work out. The two of us were meant to be a hookup, but when she got pregnant, we tried to make a relationship of it.
Before my dad married Lennon, I lived in a one-parent-absent household and hated it. I wanted more than anything to be able to give Theo the traditional nuclear family. But it became obvious pretty quickly that Hannah and I were better as friends and co-parents than lovers. So we made the mutual decision to split before things took a turn and we ended up resenting or hating one another. Our relationship has been smooth as glass since.
I say goodbye to my parents, as does Theo, and we turn to Hannah. “He’s pretty much ready. There’s just a couple of things he still has to pack.”
Hannah runs her hands through Theo’s dark strands. “Hey, buddy, why don’t you go finish packing while I talk to your dad for a minute, okay?”
I’m familiar with the look on her face and the tone of her voice, causing my stomach to tighten. She’s about to change the good thing we have going here. I knew it was too good to be true when she agreed to move to San Francisco when I took the trade last year.
Or maybe she’s met someone. We have the condition that Theo doesn’t get introduced unless it’s serious. I have no idea how I’d handle a new man in her life. I mean, I know it’s inevitable. Truth be told, I’m surprised it hasn’t happened yet. Hannah is attractive with her long blonde hair, blue eyes, and fit body.
Theo rushes off upstairs, and I gesture in the direction of the family room. “Come on in.” She sits on the couch and I sit in the chair, my forearms resting on my knees, my hands clasped together. “Everything okay?”
She nods and presses her lips together, a sure sign that she’s nervous to talk to me about whatever this is. “I wanted to talk to you about something without Theo here because I didn’t know how you’d feel about it.”
Definitely a new man. “Okay… what’s up?” I shift on the chair, cracking my neck side to side.
She blows out a breath. I glance at her left hand. No ring.
“I got a call about an opportunity to go overseas for work. My boss wants me to head up our team’s response to the crisis in eastern Europe.”
